Is The Army Stretched Too Thin?

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Rumsfeld, no great believer in multi-lateralism, thinks his military can keep pace with the Administration's ambitious foreign policy without boosting the number of Americans in uniform. His idea of how to take the strain off the forces looks good on paper. According to Pentagon estimates that predate the Bush Administration and that Rumsfeld is now having updated, as many as 320,000 people in all four services are doing jobs that might be done by civilians or contractors--jobs like mail and laundry detail. "If only 20,000 turn out to be things that would be better done by civilians, that would free 20,000 people in end strength," Rumsfeld told TIME. Turning over noncombat work to outsiders would theoretically free service members to pick up a rifle or climb into a tank. It might be faster and cheaper to turn a noncombat soldier into what the military calls a trigger puller than to add personnel outright, says Rumsfeld. Reason: noncombat soldiers have already been recruited and inducted into the military and have received at least basic training, all of which takes time and money.

Rumsfeld's idea isn't cost-free, however; someone is going to have to pay the civilian replacements. The Pentagon has "no plan, no budget for that approach," says a Senate Armed Services Committee overseer. "Our experience is that when things are shifted to civilians, they don't get funded and thus don't get done."

The Defense Secretary wants the armed services to take a hard look at how they divide missions between active-duty and part-time forces. At a time when the Army is concerned with occupation, it makes more sense to have military policemen--traditionally reservists--on active duty and tank drivers--traditionally active-duty soldiers--in the reserves. That would ease the complaints coming from reservists who signed up to be weekend warriors but have found themselves serving steadily since 9/11. "It's not fair to their families, or them, or their employers," says Rumsfeld. "If they wanted to be on active duty, they'd be on active duty."

THE FAMILY FACTOR

The Defense Chief is in a three-way race. Pacing him on one side is Congress, which may take steps to increase U.S. troop levels on its own if the Administration takes no action. Lawmakers are worried that the hazardous and longer tours of U.S. troops are going to drive them out of uniform and make today's troop shortages even worse. "They need a lot of help," Representative Ike Skelton of Missouri, ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, says of today's beleaguered soldiers. "We must recognize the new realities of our global missions and plan our forces to match them."